Policy H/SS: Residential Space Standards and accessible homes

Internal residential space standards

1.  All new residential units (including residential annexes) created through new build, conversions and change of use must as a minimum meet, and wherever possible exceed, the residential space standards set out in the Government’s Technical Housing Standards – Nationally Described Space Standard (2015) or a successor document.

2.  The Government’s Technical Housing Standards – Nationally Described Space Standard (2015) requires that:

a.  The dwelling provides at least the gross internal floor area and built-in storage area set out in Table 9;
b.  A dwelling with two or more bedspaces has at least 1 double (or twin) bedroom;
c.  In order to provide 1 bedspace, a single bedroom has a floor area of at least 7.5 square metres and is at least 2.15 metres wide;
d.  In order to provide two bedspaces, a double (or twin bedroom) has a floor area of at least 11.5 square metres;
e.  One double (or twin bedroom) is at least 2.75 metres wide and every other double (or twin) bedroom is at least 2.55 metres wide;
f.  Any area with a headroom of less than 1.5 metres is not counted within the gross internal area unless used solely for storage (if the area under the stairs is to be used for storage, assume a general floor area of 1 square metre within the gross internal area);
g.  Any other area that is used solely for storage and has a head room of 900-1,500 millimetres (such as under eaves) is counted at 50% of its floor area, and any area lower than 900 millimetres is not counted at all; 
h.  A built-in wardrobe counts towards the gross internal area and bedroom floor area requirements, but should not reduce the effective width of the room below the minimum widths set out above. The built-in area in excess of 0.72 square metres in a double bedroom and 0.36 square metres in a single bedroom counts towards the built-in storage requirement; and
i.  The minimum floor to ceiling height is 2.3 metres for at least 75% of the gross internal area.

Table 9: Minimum gross internal floor areas and storage (square metres)

Notes:

• Built-in storage areas are included within the overall Gross Internal Areas (GIAs) and include an allowance of 0.5 square metres for fixed services or equipment such as a hot water cylinder, boiler or heat exchanger.
• GIAs for 1 storey dwellings include enough space for 1 bathroom and 1 additional WC (or shower room) in dwellings with 5 or more bedspaces. GIAs for 2 and 3 storey dwellings include enough space for 1 bathroom and 1 additional WC (or shower room). Additional sanitary facilities may be included without increasing the GIA provided that all aspects of the space standard have been met.
• * Where a 1 bed 1 person (1b1p) dwelling has a shower room instead of a bathroom, the floor area may be reduced from 39 square metres to 37 square metres, as shown bracketed.
• Furnished layouts are not required to demonstrate compliance.

External residential space standards

3.  All new residential dwellings, created through new build, conversions and change of use, will be expected to have direct access to private external amenity space that is immediately outside their living accommodation. The form of amenity space will be dependent on the typology and size of unit and could include a private garden, roof garden, balcony, glazed winter garden or ground-level patio with defensible space. Required external amenity space can be delivered through a multi-levelled approach.

4.  In providing appropriate private external amenity space, development must:

a.  Take a design led approach considering the location and context of the development, including the character of the surrounding area;
b.  Take into account the orientation of the amenity space in relation to the sun at different times of year, balance openness and protection, and be designed to provide a sense of privacy to avoid spaces that feel overly exposed;
c.  Address issues of overlooking and enclosure, which may otherwise impact detrimentally on the proposed dwelling and any neighbouring dwellings;
d.  Design the amenity space to be of a shape and size, that is appropriate for the size of the unit and number of residents, to ensure effective and practical use;
e.  Provide balconies that are designed as integral elements of the building's architecture and not appear as bolt-on additions, with semi-inset or inset balconies encouraged, to support cohesive façade compositions and support usability;
f.  Provide well designed defensible spaces for ground floor apartments ensuring buffer zones are deep enough to create a layered transition between the home and public realm to support useability;
g.  Provide a minimum of 10 square metres private external amenity space for ground floor apartments (irrespective of the number of bedrooms) immediately outside their living accommodation, with a minimum depth of 2,500 millimetres; and
h.  Provide a private external amenity space of 5 square metres for upper floor apartments with 1 bedroom (one or two bedspaces) through the use of a private balcony with a minimum depth of 1,500 millimetres and a minimum usable width of 3,000 millimetres. Within upper floor apartments an additional 1 square metre will need to be provided for each additional person (bedspace).

5.  In exceptional circumstances, the provision of shared external amenity space will be acceptable for proposals delivering aspects of communal living, such as specialist housing, purpose-built student accommodation, co-living units, or co-housing. This shared external amenity space must:

a.  Be of sufficient size, quality, and accessibility to meet residents’ day-to-day needs;
b.  Be integral to the design and function of the development (no leftover or peripheral space);
c.  Have long-term management arrangements in place to ensure its usability and maintenance; and
d.  Be appropriate to the nature of the community and tenure model proposed.

Accessible and adaptable homes

6.  All new build residential units (including residential annexes) must be designed to be accessible and adaptable in accordance with the Building Regulations M4(2) standard.

7.  For development proposals providing 20 or more new build dwellings, 10% of the affordable units (the majority being within the social/affordable rented units) and 5% of the market units must be ‘wheelchair user’ dwellings in accordance with the Building Regulations M4(3) standard. These homes should be delivered as Building Regulations M4(3)(a) ‘wheelchair adaptable’ dwellings unless the Council has identified a need for Building Regulations M4(3)(b) ‘wheelchair accessible’ dwellings.

8.  Exceptions to meeting the Building Regulations M4(2) and M4(3) standards as set out above will only apply where robust justification is provided that sets out how site-specific circumstances, in addition to the other requirements for the development, make the proposed development impractical, unachievable or unviable.